Stanislas Wawrinka spent almost more time on court in last year's fourth-round match against Novak Djokovic than he has this year leading into his quarter-final against the reigning champion.

After four rounds at this year's Australian Open, the Swiss has been on court for six hours and 15 minutes, just over an hour longer than his epic five-set battle against Djokovic last year.

On that occasion it was Djokovic who outlasted his opponent in a marathon 1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 12-10 victory. But Wawrinka believes a lack of time on court at the Australian Open will assist him in his quest to knock off the world No.2 for the first time in eight years on Tuesday.

"For sure, I think it's better not spending too much time on the court than spending four hours every match," Wawrinka said. "I don't think it's an advantage against him because he didn't spend so much time on the court. But for myself, it's good. It means I'm fit, I'm ready. I didn't spend too much energy the first few rounds. So, again, everything is great here. I'm just enjoying and trying to find a solution to beat him."

Advertisement

Wawrinka played just 65 minutes in the first round against Andrey Golubev before the Kazakh retired with Wawrinka leading 6-4, 4-1.

He needed two hours and 47 minutes to knock over Columbia's Alejandro Falla in four sets in the second round before receiving a walkover in the third round after Canadian Vasek Pospisil withdrew with a back injury.

The world No.8 then took two hours and 23 minutes to send Spaniard Tommy Robredo packing following a straight sets win, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5), to progress through to the quarter-finals.

Djokovic, who hasn't dropped a set on his way to his seventh consecutive Australian Open quarter-finals appearance, insists he is expecting a similar gruelling battle to last year.

"I have to be ready to play another 12-10 in the fifth like last year," Djokovic said after his fourth-round victory. "I know that he's playing the tennis of his life in the last 15 months. He's a top-10 player now. He's established himself in the top level. He won against some top guys in the big tournaments.

"He is confident. You know, you could feel that mentally when he comes to the court, he believes in himself more. He can win against the top guys in the later stages of events. So you cannot expect a clear favorite in that match."

Djokovic has won 15 of the 17 matches the pair have played since 2006, including another five-set thriller in the semi-final of the US Open last year.

Wawrinka hasn't beaten Djokovic since 2006 and admits he's going to have to produce something special to knock off the four-time Australian Open champion.

"He's playing so good. I watched him a little bit [on Sunday]. He's really, really tough to beat. I had five sets against him here last year and five sets in the US Open. But I didn't win. I didn't find the solution to beat him. It's going to be really difficult. I'm trying every time to improve. I'm practising to play that kind of match, a quarter-final here against one of the best players in the world. I will have a chance to try to beat him. That's the most important thing.

"It's great because it's one more quarter-final. I don't have so much in my career, so it's something great for me. I'm enjoying the time here. I'm playing good tennis. The most important thing is to have as many chances I can to play against the top players, especially in the big stage here in the grand slam. But, again, I don't know what to expect. He's playing good. It's tough. I need to play my best tennis to have a chance to beat him."